With the recent sinking of a South Korean ship by the North Korean Navy and the subsequent bombing of a South Korean island by North Korean artillery, Communism is back at the fore front of many discussions.
With a body count twice that of the Nazis, why does Communism get such a soft touch by elites and the media? With a death toll of 85-100 million, classic literature (A Gulag Archipelago), film footage and survivors of communist regimes still alive, why is there such a dearth of outrage and knowledge? What is the reason that much of the population is unaware of the atrocities of Communism, or worse making excuses for it? One of the main reasons is that unlike Nazism the fight against Communism was mostly a cold war not a hot one.
The fight against the Nazis was fought mostly in the heart of Europe and the supposed civilized world.
The Nazis were stopped at the height of their power, forever stamped in history at this prominent stage.
The worldwide attention of the ensuing Nuremberg trails brought much attention to the crimes and carnage of the Nazis.
The ability of the Jews to keep the memory of the Holocaust fresh has also been an important aspect in keeping the evil of Nazism from being forgotten or minimized.
The birth and growth of Communism was in mainly agrarian societies with a limited visibility to the more advanced industrial nations of the world.
The victims were faceless and largely voiceless to the outside world.
The few hot engagements between the West and Communist countries (notably Korea and Vietnam) were in far away and relatively unknown places.
The popularity and strength of most communist countries lasted for over seventy years, mellowing in the last few decades of their existence and few leaders or participants were ever punished or brought to trail.
The few remaining communist countries are shut off and closed police states or hybrids of communism and capitalism.
Atrocities were and are easily hidden and covered up due not only to the remoteness of the areas and peoples, but also the implicit and explicit help of many in the West.
As a result communism and its crimes have largely been ignored or allowed to slink away without much condemnation or accountability.
From Stalin to Mao to Fidel Castro, excuses, lies and obfuscation is the norm for many in the media,academia and entertainment industry.
Embarrassment with their lack of integrity and ethics is why some in the media and elite class are reluctant to take an honest look at the behavior of their colleagues and themselves.
Unfortunately many are still trying to excuse the behavior of Communists because they see their goals as noble but having gone awry.
They couldn't be more wrong or disillusioned.
Whether the secret police of Stalin, the Army of Mao or the boy soldiers of the Khmer Rhouge the endgame of all communists was pretty much the same, death to the enemies of the state.
No amount of excuses by the apologists in the West can change the fact that the slaughter of millions of people was the stated goal or an acceptable consequence for the leaders of all communist powers.
Since the fall of the Berlin wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union much information has come out showing incontrovertible proof of the horrors bestowed on the victims of communism.
The vast and growing wealth of information about the abuses and crimes of the various totalitarian regimes shows the culpability of many in the media and the so-called elite class.
Ignorance can no longer be used as an excuse.
The media, academia and many in the entertainment industry are looking more like fools and outright villains.
Presently there are few remaining countries under communist control, they are China, North Korea, Vietnam and Cuba.
The people who live and suffer under these remaining Communist countries are expecting more from the free people around the world.
The blind eye that is often given to the violence and cruelties that occurs in these countries is a worldwide disgrace.